


A Mechanic's Hands

by Yoake_yoake



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:34:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoake_yoake/pseuds/Yoake_yoake
Summary: No one dies, every one is happy! Connor is a Mechanic and Evan gets into an accident with his mom.Note: The first half of this is written in direct quotes from the musical, though actions are taken from what would be convenient and helpful to the story. There is an extra space to differentiate where my own story breaks off from the original.





	A Mechanic's Hands

Evan was in the computer lab, staring at the line he'd typed on the computer. Why had he agreed to this? This was a mistake! But he couldn't back out now! Zoe would hate him and Jared would make him regret it forever.  
  
He just had to deal with it.  
  
Zoe had promised to talk him up, but he had only seen Connor once, and it didn't turn out well.  
  
So here he sat, staring at the dreaded line he had to type every day.  
  
'Dear Evan Hansen,'  
  
It wasn't a good first day. It just wasn't. How else could he describe it? After getting shoved in the hall, and having a panic attack in the bathroom when he was supposed to be in Geometry, it didn't really happen to be the day his mom had encouraged it would be.  
  
So he began to type.  
  
'Turns out this wasn’t an amazing day after all. This isn’t going to be an amazing week or an amazing year, because why would it be?'  
  
Evan knew why. Because he was him. An awkward, anxious, anti-social idiot. Even if his plan with Zoe worked out, he'd find a way to ruin it. He always did.  
  
'I know because there’s Zoe, and all my hope is pinned on Zoe, who I hardly even know, and hardly knows me. Maybe if I could just talk to him. Maybe nothing would be different at all. I wish everything was different.'  
  
He grit his teeth as he typed, feeling the truth behind the words.  
  
' I wish I was part of something. I wish that anything I said mattered to anyone. I mean face it, would anyone notice if I just disappeared tomorrow?'  
  
He stared at the question mark at the end of the sentence. Should he take it back? He thought it was true- he /knew/ it was true. But it seemed.... harsh.  
  
Before he could change his mind, he typed:  
  
' Sincerely,  
  
Your most best, and dearest friend, Me'  
  
He hit the print button and it was done. No changing it. Suddenly, a voice rang behind him.  
  
"So what happened to your arm?"  
  
Even froze and spun to look. Just as he feared, it was Connor Murphy. He could feel his face starting to heat up. But he swallowed it down.  
  
"Oh, I um-" nice. A good way to start this Evan. "I fell out of a tree."  
  
To Evan's horror, Connor laughed. "You fell out of a tree?" He looked at him, seeming to ask if he was serious. "That is just the saddest fucking thing I've ever heard. Oh my god."  
  
Evan forced a laugh and nodded. "I know." He said. He picked at his cast insecurely, wanting this conversation to just be over so he didn't embarrass himself further.  
  
Connor looked down at his cast. "No one's signed your cast." He said obviously.  
  
"No, I know." Evan responded instantly, refusing to look anywhere but the ground.  
  
"I'll sign it."  
  
Evan's head shot up and he stared at him. He swallowed quickly. "Oh, um... you don't have to."  
  
"Do you have a sharpie?" Connor asked, disregarding what Evan had said.  
  
There was a beat and Evan reluctantly pulled his black sharpie out from his pocket and handed it to him.  
  
Connor took it and held Evan's arm across his as he used his teeth to remove the cap. He sighed his name largely across the whole side of the cast. 'CONNOR'  
  
Evan breathed slowly to calm his racing heart. "Oh," he said in a voice that hid almost all of his enthusiasm and made him sound less than thrilled. "Great. Thanks."  
  
Connor let go of his arm and capped the marker. "Now we can both pretend that we have friends." He forced a bit of a small side smile as he pushed the marker to him.  
  
Even that ghost of pleasant emotion made Evan's heart skip beats.  
  
"Good point." Evan found himself saying. He pocketed the marker swiftly and turned, scooping up his bag to leave.  
  
Connor stopped him again. "Is this yours?" He asked, holding out a piece of paper. "I found it in the printer. 'Dear Evan Hansen'. That's your name, right?"  
  
Evan's heart instantly sank. "Oh, that's just a stupid- it's a paper I had to write for a, um, for an assignment..."  
  
Evan reached out for the paper, but Connor swiftly pulled it back and looked at it.  
  
"'Because there's Zoe.'?" Connor quoted suspiciously. "Is this about my /sister/?"  
  
"No, not at all." Evan said quickly, trying to take the paper again. Once again, Connor yanked it away.

"You wrote this because you knew I would find it." Connor said, obviously getting infuriated.  
  
"What?" Evan asked, cringing at the shakiness in his voice.  
  
"You saw that I was the only other person in the computer lab, so you wrote this and printed it out so I could find it!" Connor shouted accusingly.  
  
"Why would I do that??" Evan asked, taking a step back, which only made Connor angrier.  
  
"So I would read some creepy shit you wrote about my sister, and freak out, right? And you can tell everyone I'm crazy, right??" Connor shouted, gripping the paper in his hand.  
  
"No, wait! I don't even- what?" Evan stuttered, unable to form whole sentences in fear.  
  
"/Fuck you!!/" Connor screamed at him. Connor shoved past him for a second time that day and stormed out of the computer lab with Evan's paper.  
  
"But I really- I need that back- can you just- can you just give that back??" Evan said quickly. He didn't want to retype the letter.  
  
\---  
  
"A letter to yourself? What the crap does that even mean? Is it, like, some kind of sex thing?" Jared's skeptical voice came through the speaker to Evan's computer. Evan had FaceTimed him and explained the situation, though Jared seemed less interested in the conversation and more interested in the game he was playing.  
  
"No, it's not a sex thing." Evan huffed. "It's... it's an assignment.."  
  
Jared swore as he died and sighed, looking through the screen at Evan. "Why are you talking to me about this?"  
  
"I didn't know who else to talk to." Evan said. "You're my only... f-family friend.." Evan said, getting quieter.  
  
Jared rolled his eyes and restarted his game. "Oh my god."  
  
"I don't know what to do." Evan said desperately. "He stole the letter from me three days ago, and then he just, he hasn't been at the school since."  
  
"That does not bode well with you." Jared said halfheartedly.  
  
"What is he going to do with it?" Evan asked him, worried.  
  
Jared swore once more as he died again and ran his hand through his hair. "Who knows? Connor Murphy is batshit out of his mind. Do you remember when he threw a printer at Mrs. G. in second grade because he didn't get to be line leader that day?"  
  
"Do you think he's going to show the letter to other people?" Evan asked, ignoring Jared's question.  
  
Jared rolled his eyes. "Obviously. He's going to ruin your life with it. For sure, I mean, I would." With that, Jared hung up, leaving Evan alone.  
  
Evan fell back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was he gonna do....  
  
  
A gentle knock came at his door and his mom peeked into him. "Hey, sweety." She smiled lightly to him. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the store with me. You can get something you like. A celebration for your first week being over."  
  
Evan sighed. His mom tried. She really did. But he wasn't in the mood to really do anything. But her hopeful look won him over.  
  
"Yeah... sure." Evan said, sitting up. He got off of his bed and followed his mom out to the car.  
  
There was silence between them as they went, Evan leaning on the door as he watched the trees go by.  
  
The silence echoed when a loud screech came from behind them. And before his mom could react, they were thrown forward and a sickening crunch came from the back of the van.  
  
The airbags deployed as Evan's ears rang. He blinked dizzily and tried to look around. What happened? Where was his mom? She was beside him, calling to him.  
  
His hearing cleared. "-Okay, honey. We're okay. Don't move."  
  
"Is everyone okay??" A woman's voice called from somewhere.  
  
"We're fine! Just a bit trapped." Mom responded.  
  
"Help is on the way!" The woman called again.  
  
Only 5 minutes later, the doors were pried off and Evan and his mom were released. Evan stared at the car and could feel his heart beat speed up instantly. It became hard to breathe.  
  
The entire back half of the car was crushed. They would have died.  
  
Evan's mom hugged him tightly and checked over him before going to talk to the woman.  
  
Evan sat on the curb of the road, trying to suck in a single good breath. An EMT sat by him and talked him through his panic attack.

After 20 minutes, his mom came over. "Hey, honey. I'm sorry about all of this. They're calling the tow company and I'm going to call the insurance. Why don't you ride to the garage with the tow people?"  
  
Evan didn't want to. He wanted to just curl up there and die. But fewer people would stare at the garage. There, he could hide as someone just waiting. So he agreed.  
  
The ride with the tow man was still and uncomfortable. Multiple times, he'd tried to engage in conversation, but Evan never answered back. He just wanted the day to be over already.  
  
He climbed out of the tow truck and started walking towards the main area to get out of the way when someone shouted something that caught him off guard.  
  
"Hey, Murphy! We've got another one!"  
  
Evan froze, standing straight as a board. He slowly closed his eyes, praying. Maybe it was someone else. Murphy was sort of a common name. Or maybe it was Mr. Murphy, Zoe and Connor's dad. Whoever it is, just don't let it be-  
  
"I'm just finishing the Avery's, go ahead and send it back!" A familiar voice called. Evan refused to believe it. No way. But with Evan's luck, it was most likely who he thought it was.  
  
Connor.  
  
He watched as they backed the tow truck up and put his mom's car in the garage. A small, red Buick was beside it. It looked brand new and based off of what they said, it sounded like it had been torn apart too.  
  
It had it's hood up, so it was safe to say it was still being worked on.  
  
"Hey, you!" Someone shouted, and Evan jumped. "Kid, you can't just stand in the parking lot. Your mom's not here, so you can either go sit in the office or go talk to Murphy. He's the one working on your car.  
  
Evan didn't say anything, but swiftly spun on his heels and speed-walked to the office.  
  
He sat down in a huffed. There was no way. Connor Murphy couldn't work here. Absolutely not. That would just make him feel worse.  
  
He sat for about 16 minutes before growing restless. He had to know. So he stood and slowly made his way out of the office and into the garage. It smelled like tons of gasoline and oil was just dumped everywhere. There were tools being used and others scattered around.  
  
He made his way back to where his mom's car was, and where 'Murphy' was working on the Buick.  
  
As he moved around to see who was halfway into the engine of the car, his heart leaped, and his stomach fell at the same time.  
  
It was Connor. In torn jeans that were covered in motor oil, a t-shirt whose sleeves were cut off and sides cut open. His hair was pulled back into a bun to reveal an undercut designed like a braid. He had thick gloves on that protected his hands from everything.  
  
In his surprised, yet awkward state, Evan cried out suddenly. "Connor!"  
  
Connor jumped and banged his head on the open hood of the Buick. He cried out in pain and covered the back of his head, turning to look at who had caused him to hurt himself.  
  
His eyes widened when he noticed it was Evan. "Hansen. What are, you doing here?"  
  
Evan instantly started picking at his cast and he glanced at his mom's car.  
  
Connor looked over at it. "Holy shit, that's yours?"  
  
Evan slowly nodded.  
  
"Oh my god.. you are lucky to be alive." Connor commented, staring at the car.  
  
Evan looked down. "Yeah.." he breathed. "Lucky..."  
  
Connor nodded and went back to working on the car. "So what brings you to my little corner of the shop?"  
  
Evan looked back at him, allowing himself to blush lightly. "I wanted to.. to ask for my letter back."  
  
Connor stopped.  
  
"I-I mean- you don't have to give it back- I just wanted to ask- I'm sorry-"  
  
Connor shook his head and stood. "No, no. It's alright. I.. shouldn't 've taken it."  
  
He pulled off his gloves and set them to the side. He walked away before stopping and turning to him. "You coming?"  
  
Evan jumped a bit and hurried to follow him.  
  
Connor led him to a side door that led to a sort of break room. His backpack and jacket sat in the corner. He went over and dug into the side pocket, pulling out a folded paper and handing it to him.  
  
"Thanks..." Evan said quietly.

Connor nodded and led him back out to the Buick.  
  
"I didn't know you were a mechanic." Evan said, continuing the conversation.  
  
Connor nodded. "Yeah. My mom doesn't like it. Says it's dangerous or whatever. Dad doesn't like anything I do. But I enjoy it, and- as far as I know- I'm pretty good at it."  
  
Evan nodded. "You look... good." He turned red.  
  
Connor chuckled a bit. "Thanks."  
  
Suddenly, something in the engine of the car snapped and started blasting steam.  
  
Connor flipped and grabbed the pipe, forcing it back in place. He cried out as it started searing his skin. "The wrench!" He shouted to Evan. "The three-quarter inch, Evan- hurry!!"  
  
Evan scrambled to find the right wrench to handed it to him.  
  
Connor took it quickly and fixed the pipe back in place. He finished and yanked his hands away, hissing in pain. He cradled his hands close and hurried to the sink in the break room.  
  
Evan quickly followed and came in to see Connor with his hands shoved under cold water.  
  
He began looking around and found what he was looking for beneath the sink. A first aid kit.  
  
"Here," Evan said gently. "Give me your hands."  
  
Connor looked at him hesitantly before taking his hands out of the water and holding them out to him.  
  
Evan took them delicately in his hands and looked them over. They were burned, red and raw, boils from the heat popping up and even with how careful Evan was being, Connor still winced from pain.  
  
Evan pulled out the gauze, bandages, and numbing cream from the first aid kit. He got some on his fingers and spread it over his palms.  
  
Connor hissed and tried to pull back, but Evan kept his hands there. He placed gauze over top and used the bandages to wrap his hands up.  
  
Connor watched quietly as Evan worked.  
  
"Where did you learn to do this?" Connor asked when Evan was done.  
  
Evan shrugged. "My mom's a nurse. I guess I picked up on a few things."  
  
Connor nodded and smiled a bit to him. "Thanks, Evan."  
  
Evan's heart leaped and he looked away to keep his blush hidden. "It wasn't a problem. It was my fault anyway. I distracted you."  
  
Connor furrowed his brow and shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Evan. Why would it be your fault?"  
  
"I made you walk away. To get the letter..." Evan looked to the side.  
  
Connor frowned. "I should've picked up on it. It's not your fault that the pipe broke."  
  
Evan didn't believe him, but he didn't say anything else.  
  
Connor sighed. "Thanks again, though. I think... I should repay you?" He asked. "No one's ever really done something like this for me, so I don't know how to respond to it."  
  
"Oh, uh, you don't have to do anything. I just knew how to take care of it. It's okay." Evan said quickly.  
  
Connor shook his head. "Nope. Too late. I think... I'm going to take you out to get ice cream."  
  
Evan blushed darkly. "What?"  
  
"As a token of my gratitude. Evan, would you like to go get ice cream with me?"  
  
Evan paused a moment before smiling happily and nodding.

"I'd love to, Connor."


End file.
